Improvement in mowing-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT GEFIcE.

JAMES fl. VOOI), vOF ICRC/ESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING-MACHINES.

Specticntion forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,932, dated March 17, ISGS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. Woon, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of lVorcester, in the county of forcester and State of Massachusetts, have made a new and useful invent-ion having reference to Mowing-Wfachines5 and I dohereby declare the same to be fully described in the following speciication and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is atop view, andFig. 2 a side elevation, of a mowing-machine furnished with my said invention, which consists in a combination of mechanism applieth to the cutter stock or bar and its supporting-frame for the purpose not only of supporting the frame on the ground, but of imparting, as occasionv may require, a duplex motion or movement to the cutter bar or stock, such movement causing the said cutter-bar to be raised from the ground or over an obstacle with great celerity and facility.

In the drawings, A. relnesents the carriagebody of the frame of the machine, the same being provided with one axle, B, carrying a single driving and supporting wheel, C. rlhe carriage-body is not only furnished with a seat, l), for a driver or attendant, but with a pole, E, for the attachment ofthe draft animal or animals by which the mowing-machine, when in use, is to be drawn over the surface of a field. rlhe axle or shaft B is so made and so supported in its bearings as to be capable of being moved by suitable mechanism in longitudinal directions, so as to throw the internal gear, c, of the driving-wheel either into or out of engagement with a beveled pinion, b, fixed on another shaft, c, which, by means of other gears, l c, imparts rotary motion to a third shaft, c2. Aorank, f, (on the shaft 62,) and a connecting-rod, g, serve to communicate reciprocating and rectilinear motion to the serrated knife or cutter F, which is supported in the usual manner within a cutter stock or bar, G, furnished with a series of prongs or teeth, 7L It 7L.

This cutter stock or bar G is hinged or connected in such manner to the curved supporter or parti of the frame A as to be capable of being turned from a vertical or nearly v'ertical position down into or somewhat belowa horizontal position. Furthermore, a short axle or shaft, li', is supported by and extended through the part t', a crank, l, being fixed on the outer end of the shaft. The said crank carries on its wrist a' small wheel, m. An arm, n, eX- tends up from the inner end ot' the shaft and into close proximity with the drvers seat. By laying hold of the arm at and moving it so as to cause the wheel mto be borne down upon the ground, the frame A and the cut-ter stock or bar, with the cutter, will be raised or tipped more or less upward and in a manner to raise the cutter-bar olf the ground.

All the above-described mechanism and its arrangement and application as herein described and as exhibited in the accompanying drawings are common `to some mowing-machines as now or heretofore constructed and used. I have applied to such, or to some portions thereof, certain other mechanisms for the purpose of better effecting the upward movement of the cutter-bar. This additional mechanism consists of an arm or projection, p, and a cam or lifter, q. The said arm 1)i extends from the heclpart of the cutter-bar in man- -ner as shown in Figs. land 2, and directly over the cam q, which projects from the outer end of the cross-shaft 1.'.

The arm n, the, shaft k, and the crank Z/constitute a bent lever, by which the attendant is enabled to force the wheel n down upon the ground in a manner to effect the raising of the carriage a-nd the cutter-bar, as hereinbefore mentioned. \Vhile this movement of the carriage is taking place, the 4cam q will be borne upward against the arm p, and as a consequence it will still farther elevate the cutter-bar, or give to it an upward motion faster than that produced by the pressure of the wheel m on the ground. rllhus, there will result to the cutter-bar a duplex motion or movement, highly advantageous to clearing it from any stump, stone, or other obstacle which may be met with or which may be in the way of the cutter-bar and the cutters while the machine may be in use.

I claim- The combination of the arm p and the cam q, or their mechanical equivalent or equivalents, with the auxiliary wheel on, `its operative lever, and the cutter-bar G, hinged or applied to the frame A, or the supporting part c' and above the same with great eelerity when thereof, substantially in manner and so as to the mowingmachine may bein use.

operate as described7 the said appliances to Y the cutterbar and its supporter constituting JAMES E. VOOD.

what may be termed a duplex motion or Witnesses: mechanism7 by the aid of which such cutter- D. XV. HASKINS, bar may be elevated or raised off the ground WV'. W. RICE, 

